Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Can Patients "Sell" to Other Patients, Confusion in Arizona

There's a lot of confusion in Arizona about if one patient can "sell" to another patient.

The way I read the law, the answer is no, but I do know where the confusion comes from. It's the Arizona Department of Health Services own FAQ's about medical marijuana. On their medical marijuana FAQ, QP30 says, "Where can I legally "buy" marijuana if I am a qualifying patient?"

Their answer is, "Qualifying patients can obtain medical marijuana from a dispensary, the qualifying patient's designated caregiver, another qualifying patient, or, if authorized to cultivate, from home cultivation".

The problem is that someone at the Arizona Department of Health Services put BUY, rather than OBTAIN, like the law says.

I called Department of Health Services on Monday and told them I felt this may be where some of the confusion is coming from. In true bureaucratic fashion, the girl said she would tell her supervisor, but basically, don't hold my breath.

I just checked, and nothing has changed...... http://www.azdhs.gov/medicalmarijuana/faqs/patients.htm

Arizona is transforming from a black-market system, where patients payed black-market prices to who ever they could find, to a legal system where patients can share medicine, but not sell it, and caregivers can only recover actual expenses for the medical marijuana they grow for patients.

I'm afraid how we accomplish this transformation from the black market to a legal market, will determine how law enforcement sees medical marijuana patients in Arizona.

2 comments:

I am curious.. If the DHS says that one can obtain marijuana from another patient, where does that come from? Are they allowed to set this rule, or is it in the law? I can't seem to find where it says you can.

since i can't edit, obviously in the article the azdhs states it, but i can't find it in the statutes. so, am i missing it, or does dhs have the authority to say patient to patient transfers are legal?